


Defend Yourself

by katling



Series: Stormpilot Week 2017 [3]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: M/M, finn gets frustrated, finn would just like poe to come back, in one piece, poe is clueless, until he isn't
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-15
Updated: 2017-02-15
Packaged: 2018-09-24 14:43:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,175
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9765431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katling/pseuds/katling
Summary: Finn is frustrated, Poe is confused and the peanut gallery is amused. Finn wants Poe to be able to defend himself so that he can come home. It takes a while for Poe to get that.And here is my piece for day 3 of the Stormpilot Week over on tumblr. I chose to do Finn teaching Poe something, though they don’t quite get to the actual teaching part. It’s going to happen though. Oh, and peanuts are totally a thing in the Star Wars universe because I needed them for a line.





	

“How do you not know how to defend yourself?”

Poe, who had been in the middle of telling the only _slightly_ altered tale of his latest mission over breakfast, frowned at Finn’s open disbelief. “What do you mean? I’m a great shot with a blaster.”

Finn waved that away as inconsequential. “And what are you going to do if you don’t have a blaster?”

“Run really fast towards Black One?” Poe said with a grin.

Finn gave him a long flat look then stood up, gesturing to Poe. “Come on.”

“Uh, what?” Poe looked down at the remnants of his breakfast and then back up at Finn. “I’m in the middle of a story… and my breakfast.”

“You can do both of those later.” 

Finn crossed his arms over his chest and gave Poe a look that had him standing without really thinking much about what he was doing. He heard some snickering as he stood as well as a whisper of ‘so whipped’ that he was fairly sure came from Jessika.

“Where are we going?” Poe said, trying to prevaricate.

“The gym,” Finn said. “I’m going to teach you hand to hand.”

Poe stared up at him blankly as the other pilots snickered. “What?”

Finn sighed. “Come on.”

Poe slowly got to his feet then turned a stern glare on the others, most of whom had been making subtle movements towards getting up and following. “You lot are _not_ invited.”

“Spoilsport,” Jessika said with a gamine grin.

“I don’t need a peanut gallery,” Poe retorted. “With an emphasis on _peanut_.”

Laughter greeted that comment and then Finn grabbed hold of his arm and dragged him very firmly out of the mess hall. He was muttering under his breath the whole time and Poe had to almost jog to keep up with him. Despite that, he made no attempt to get loose from Finn’s grip.

“Finn… buddy… what’s wrong?” he finally asked when the former Trooper’s muttering didn’t stop.

“I can’t believe you don’t know how to defend yourself properly,” Finn said irritably.

“I do know _some_ hand to hand,” Poe protested. “I’m not completely helpless. Besides, I’m a pilot. I’m usually flying.”

“Except when the General sends you on missions to meet with people on the _ground_ ,” Finn replied. “Which she does a lot.”

“Well,” Poe said, a little taken aback by Finn’s continued intransigence. “I’m a… a known face. I was a successful pilot with the Republic. And I have a high rank in the Resistance.”

“And you flirt like breathing,” Finn grumbled.

Poe grinned sheepishly. “Well, there’s that. But it doesn’t mean anything. It just… greases the wheels, so to speak.”

“Until it doesn’t and you have to defend yourself,” Finn said flatly.

“I usually have a blaster.”

“That didn’t help you on Jakku.”

Poe had to concede that point but he did have an argument for it anyway. “That was only because of Ren and that weird Force thing he did.”

That didn’t seem to help and only sent Finn off on an alternate rant. Poe had forgotten just for a moment that Finn had been there.

“And what were you thinking about with that?” Finn demanded. “One person against all the Stormtroopers and Ren?”

“Lor San Tekka…” Poe began.

“Was dead,” Finn said flatly. “You could have gotten _yourself_ killed. You _did_ get captured.”

“Hey, that didn’t work out so bad,” Poe said with a flirty smile. “You rescued me.”

Finn didn’t return the smile and instead shoved Poe through the door to the gym and towards the areas set aside for hand to hand training.

“Easy, buddy,” Poe said in a placating tone. “I mean, I like a bit of manhandling as much as the next person but…”

“Poe,” Finn said through gritted teeth. “Shut up.”

Poe’s eyes narrowed and he came to a halt, forcing Finn to either stop as well or actually shove him over and he was fairly certain Finn wouldn’t do that. 

“Finn,” he said, dropping the joking, flirtatious air he had been using in favour of something more sober and serious. “What’s this really about?”

Finn twitched and his lips thinned. “It’s about you being woefully unprepared if someone tries to capture you again.”

“I’ve been doing this for a while now and I’ve only been captured once,” Poe said. “It’s not like it happens every time.”

“It shouldn’t happen at all,” Finn snapped.

Poe went very still for a moment, a small frown growing on his face. He stepped forward and placed a hand on Finn’s arm.

“Finn…” he began then he sighed and grimaced. “Someone told you about what _actually_ happened on my mission, didn’t they?” He gestured to himself. “Look! I’m fine. It was a few bruises and scrapes, nothing more.”

Finn stared at him for a moment then he closed his eyes and shuddered. “It could have been worse,” he said, his voice sounding a little wrecked. “You could have been killed.”

Poe grabbed Finn’s arms. “Finn… it wasn’t that bad, I promise. It was just a bit of a tussle, nothing more. I punched him in the proboscis and booked it for Black One.”

He felt Finn shudder then he was suddenly pulled into a hug. He flailed for a moment then he wrapped his arms around Finn and rubbed his back soothingly.

“It’s okay, buddy. _I’m_ okay.” 

He felt Finn draw in a shuddering breath and bury his face in his neck. He then felt the brush of the former Trooper’s lips against his skin and it was _his_ turn to shiver. When the brush came again, he gasped and his hands tightened in Finn’s shirt.

“Finn?”

Finn went very still then he pulled back just a little and Poe could see the worry and apprehension in his eyes. Finn seemed to steel himself and darted forward to press his lips against Poe’s. It wasn’t much of a kiss. It was hurried and awkward and inexpert but Poe’s heart hammered in his chest with delight anyway. He didn’t think about what was going on and settled for cradling Finn’s face in both his hands and taking charge of the kiss. 

With just the slightest of hints, Finn proved to be as quick at learning how to do this as he was at everything else and Poe lost track of time as they kissed and kissed and kissed. It wasn’t until his back hit the wall of the gym that they broke apart and for a moment, they just stared at each other. Poe could see the uncertainty and panic starting to rise in Finn’s eyes as the silence stretched out and he broke out into a grin.

“Okay,” he said.

Finn blinked and looked confused. “Uh… okay?”

Poe nodded, his grin softening into something warm and happy. “You can teach me hand to hand. Gotta make sure I come back every time, right?”

As he watched, Finn blinked again then he seemed to get it and he broke out into his own wide, warm and happy grin. “Okay.”


End file.
